Joseph Ruiters, CEO at The Business Associates, and Rick Ed, founder of Do Better Business
Do we practice what we preach? Or are business support practitioners, like with many other professions, finding it difficult to follow their own advice, when it comes to running their own affairs?
“Small business owners often do not have a good understanding of the market they aim to serve and they often do not have a firm grip on their financial situation,” says Rick Ed, founder of Do Better Business and one of the guests on the upcoming Small Business Support Practitioners Webinar Series.
“This is also true for business advisors, who are starting out to position themselves as professional practitioners based on their experience or qualifications in specialist business fields. We do not first ask what the market wants and then create a business to address the need; we rather start out with what we want to offer the world and what we are good at, rather than ask what the small businesses we can reach need,” says Ed.
Ed’s office, where he connects with his small business clients is “a convenient coffee shop”, which explains why he is in such a good position to reflect on how independent business advisors, mentors, and trainers may create a profitable service in the small business support sector.
During the upcoming webinar, hosted by the Small Business Development Agency (SEDA), the Institute for Business Advisors Southern Africa (IBASA), and the Entrepreneurial Planning Institute (EPI), Ed will offer practical tips to independent professionals that are positioning themselves in the market as small business development practitioners. He will reflect on his own experience and that of many other single-person small business support practices.
UPCOMING WEBINAR
Join the upcoming episode of the SEDA, IBASA & EPI Webinar Series, with Joeseph Ruiters from The Business Associates and Rick Ed from Do Better Business.
WHAT: CPD Webinar
TOPIC: “Practical tips in managing a profitable small business advisory firm and positioning yourself as professional business support practitioner”
WHEN: Thursday 26 May 2022
TIME: 11h30 to 13h00
WHERE: << BOOK YOUR PLACE HERE >>
Joining Ed on the webinar is one of IBASA’s non-executive directors Joseph Ruiters. He is CEO of The Business Associates, a Cape Town-based business advisory firm, serving the needs of both individual small businesses and the supplier development requirements of local government and large companies.
“There is a difference between offering professional services as an advisor or mentor, and running an advisory firm delivering such services,” says Ruiters. “To deliver on the expectations of your institutional clients, you cannot just focus on making a difference with the small business beneficiaries. You have to be tuned into the expectations of your contracting client, as their requirements are often more complex and nuanced than that of the small businesses you deliver the services to.”
The webinar will focus on practical tips for offering profitable small business support services, both from the perspective of individual professionals positioning themselves in the small business development market and from the perspective of a small advisory firm, that aims to deliver enterprise and supplier development services to government or corporate clients.
- To join the upcoming CPD webinar you can << REGISTER HERE >>.
- By attending this episode of the SEDA, IBASA and EPI Small Business Development Practitioner Webinar Series, you will earn credits to count towards your CPD requirements.
- Christoff Oosthuysen is the webinar host, Founding CEO of the Entrepreneurial Planning Institute (EPI) and General Partner at Seed South Capital.
